Doctor Accused of Marrying Dying Colleague for $12M Inheritance

A British doctor has been accused of taking advantage of a dying co-worker by convincing her to marry him so that he could inherit her $12 million estate, the Telegraph reported on Monday. Evi Kalodiki, a renowned surgeon, bequeathed one-sixth of her estate to Christopher Lattimer, a senior lecturer at Imperial College London. The pair were married the same day she wrote the will in hospice. She died four days later of lung cancer, on January 31, 2018, at age 62.  Lattimer, 60, says their marriage invalidated Kalodiki's will and he is entitled to her entire estate.

Kalodiki and Lattimer worked together at Imperial College London. Both were honorary consultants in surgery and co-authored academic papers, the Telegraph reported.  In 2018, Kalodiki spent Christmas with Lattimer and his family in Croydon, south London. Lattimer said that they agreed to marry after he told Kalodiki he was concerned she was close to death while driving her back to the hospice on December 27.

"I also told her that it would be irresponsible and unkind of her to let her die and leave me all alone and unsupported to face her family," Lattimer told the court. "Evi interjected and stated 'Are you asking me to marry you?' At this point, I said that this was not what I meant but I agreed to the marriage, which Evi took as a proposal by me."  Lattimer says that Kalodiki contacted a priest, Father Damian Konstantinou, who arranged a Greek Orthodox ceremony later that day in a North London chapel. 

Also that day, Kalodiki wrote her will. "The will was a collaboration between Father Damian and Evi, and I wrote down how Evi told me that she wished her estate to be distributed," Lattimer told the court.  The next day, Kalodiki's sister, Maria Karamanoli, witnessed a civil ceremony. In Kalodiki's will, Karamanoli was left one-sixth of her estate, as were two daughters, one son, and a charity. Karamanoli claims that Kalodiki told her: "Don't worry, I made my will and I took good care of you and the children." 

Karamanoli has since asked the court to declare the marriage invalid because Lattimer took unfair advantage of her sister, the marriage didn't invalidate the will, and Kalodiki was a legal resident of Cyprus when she died.  The judge told Karamanoli had no "real prospect of obtaining a declaration that the marriage was void at its inception" but she could proceed with the case on other grounds, the Telegraph reported. The judge also said Father Damian Konstantinou "will be an important witness" to Kalodiki's "instructions and intentions."

Lattimer, who has since married another woman, has had a previous brush with negative press, the Telegraph reported.  In 2003, he was fired by a hospital in Margate, Kent, after he admitted to making indecent photographs of children, the news outlet said. He didn't lose his medical license but was suspended for nine months.